ACADEMY OF SAINT GABRIEL REPORT 2175
http://www.s-gabriel.org/2175
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05 Jan 2001
From: Judith Phillips 

Greetings from the Academy of Saint Gabriel!

You asked us to research medieval forms of your modern surname <Bottrell> 
for use in your Society name. You expressed an interest in developing a 
Norman or Anglo-Norman persona and suggested the name <Constance de 
Botreaux>. Here is the information we've found.

<Constance> is an excellent choice of given name for a Norman woman. 
<Constance> was the name of a daughter of Constantine the Great who was 
made a saint. The name was introduced into England by the Normans -- a 
daughter of William the Conqueror was named <Constance> -- and remained 
fairly common throughout our period. We found the following dated spellings 
in England [1]:

      Constancia, 1199
      Custancia, 1199
      Constance, 1273
      Custance, 1273, 1379
      Custans, 1379

Early (9th-12th century) forms of the name in France include <Constancia>, 
<Constantia>, <Costancia>, and <Custancia> [2]; all are Latinized 
spellings. Based on these forms, we believe that <Costance>, pronounced 
\koh-STAHN-ts@\, is a likely 11-12th century vernacular (spoken) French 
form. (\@\ is the sound of <a> in "about" or "sofa.") We found only one 
later example of the name in northern France, a 13th century <Coutance> 
[3], but we are confident that the early Anglo-Norman forms would be 
equally appropriate for Normandy.

The surname <Bottrell> appears to have multiple origins. The most obvious 
is as a nickname from the Old French word <boterel>, meaning "toad;" we 
find several 12th century examples of <Boterel>. However, <Boterel> also 
appears in a family whose surname is elsewhere recorded as <Butery> and 
<Buteri>, suggesting that <Boterel> in this case is a diminutive of 
<Boter>, from Latin <bota>, "bottle." This would have been an occupational 
byname for a keeper of a buttery, meaning "one in charge of the bottles." 
Finally, the family associated with Boscastle ("Boterel's castle") in 
Cornwall appears to have taken their name from the placename <Les 
Bottereaux>, "the toads," in Normandy. [4] (We have the place name itself 
spelled <Boterelli> in 1192 [5]; this is a Latinized form.) The original 
Boterel, recorded in 1130 as <William boterel>, is elsewhere found as 
<William de Boterell'> and <William as Boterell'> in 1178, suggesting that 
his name was derived from a place name and not in fact a nickname from the 
toad. [4] (The apostrophe in <Boterell'> is from a scribal suspension and 
indicates one or more omitted letters.)

We didn't find any example of your spelling <de Botreaux>, but we did find 
several other dated forms of <Bottrell> that appear to derive from the 
Norman place name: [4]

      des Boterell, 1197
      des Boteraus, 1197
      des Boterels, 1197-8
      de Boterell, 1221
      de Botereus, 1221, 1277
      de Botereaus, 1226, 1242
      de Boterels 1226, 1242

Of these, <de Botereaus> is the closest to your spelling. We doubt this 
spelling would have been found much beyond the early 13th century. 
<Botereaus> would have been pronounced roughly \boh-tair-YOWS\.

In short, <Custance de Boterel> would be the likeliest form of your name 
for a 12-13th century Norman or Anglo-Norman woman. <Constance de 
Botereaus> would be a less likely form, but it is still correct for your 
period. <Costance> might be a more typical vernacular French form, based on 
the Latin forms we found in French records.

I hope that this letter has been useful to you. Please feel free to contact 
us again if any part of it has been unclear or if you have further 
questions. I was assisted in writing this letter by Talan Gwynek, Arval 
Benicoeur, Dietmar von Straubing, Antonio Miguel Santos de Borja, Juliana 
de Luna, Adelaide de Beaumont, Julie Stampnitzky, and Maridonna Benvenuti.


For the Academy,

Adeliza de Saviniaco
5 January 2001

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References:

[1] Withycombe, E.G., _The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names_, 
3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1988). s.n. Constance.

[2] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Les Noms de Personne sur le Territoire 
del'Ancienne Gaule du VIe au XIIe Siecle_, three volumes (Paris: 
CentreNational de la Recherche Scientifique, 1972). Volume II p. 36b.

[3] Morlet, Marie-Therese, _Etude d'anthroponymie picarde, les noms de 
personne en Haute Picardie aux XIIIe, XIVe, XVe siecles_ (Amiens, Musee de 
Picardie, 1967). pgs. 332, 389, 453

[4] Reaney, P. H., & R. M. Wilson, _A Dictionary of English Surnames_ 
(London: Routledge, 1991; Oxford University Press, 1995). s.n. Botterell.

[5] Dauzat, Albert & Ch. Rostaing, _Dictionnaire Etymologique des Noms de 
Lieux de la France_ (Paris: Librairie Larousse, 1963). s.n. Bottereaux (Les)